Nominations Sought for "Greatest Person" in St. Charles

The Huffington Post each day picks someone from a Patch community as its "Greatest Person of the Day"—an honor recognizing people who confront issues in their community with creativity and passion.

Two local people have been selected as the Greatest Person on The Huffington Post website, O'Fallon mom Natalie Blakemore and Lake Saint Louis resident Joe Snell.

Blakemore started Unlimited Play, Inc. which is a nonprofit organization that raises funds to build accessible playgrounds for children. In the St. Louis area, Unlimited Play has helped build in three parks, including in Lake Saint Louis, in Clayton and in O’Fallon.

Unlimited Play's next project is scheduled to be complete in spring 2012 in Jaycee Park in St. Charles.

Lake Saint Louis resident Joe Snell organized a Neighborhood Assistance Preservation Program. When homeowners physically or financially are unable to make repairs to their homes, volunteers with NAPP step in to help.

That first project was a big one: painting an entire house. A $500 donation from Denny and Associates got the group started with paint. Christian Environmental Services provided free debris removal, and Snell bought other supplies out of his own pocket.

The second project came in May 2011 after a fierce storm tore huge branches from a neighbor's tree. "We had eight guys with chain saws, and others dragging branches from the back yard," Snell said. The Saturday morning project was finished quickly.

Do you know about someone in St. Charles who should be nominated as the "Greatest Person of the Day?" Leave your nomination in the comments, or email editor Kalen Ponche at kalen.ponche@patch.com